After weeks of falling gas prices in Michigan, the average price finally went up several cents – knocking the state from its No. 1 position.

In two separate lists of average gas prices ranked by state -- one by GasBuddy.com, the other by AAA -- Michigan's gas prices went up today.

Prices at the pump began to tick upward Wednesday morning, about a day behind when analysts predicted they would rise.

"A least it got folks a lot more time to go out and fill up at those low prices," said senior petroleum analyst Patrick DeHaan, who had predicted on Monday that by Tuesday prices would start to rise. "I like to convince myself that it's not that bad of an error that it took more than 24 hours to happen."

GasBuddy, which compiles prices from thousands of stations nationwide, had Michigan's average gas price up a few cents a gallon at $1.85. It had been below $1.80.

In Detroit, the average was $1.78, with a lowest price at $1.54.

Southern states -- where you might expect because they are closer to oil production and, in many cases, are not taxes as much -- had lower prices. South Carolina, the new No. 1, had an average of 1.80 a gallon, followed by Oklahoma, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas and Louisiana.

The American Automobile Association had Michigan at No. 2, with an average gas price of $1.83, just behind South Carolina, which was selling gas at an average price of $1.82.

For several weeks, he said, gas prices had been dropping in Michigan, falling about 50 cents from where they were a month previously, and to lows not seen since 2009.

DeHaan said it was unusual for Michigan, which has higher gas taxes than other states, to hold the top spot nationally, and in fact, he suspected that for several days gas stations were just breaking even or losing money on gas because they were selling at such low prices.

Initially, DeHaan said, that the market seemed to be acting irrationally when, even after all indications that they would rise, they continued to fall.

But, by Wednesday, a few stations started raising prices, which gave way to more following suit.

DeHaan predicted prices will bounce around $2 a gallon until about mid-February, when they likely will rise again.